


I'll Catch You

by Girlwithgoggles



Series: Summer Heat [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Circus, Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, Boys Kissing, Circus, Cute Kids, Dean is afraid of heights, Fluff, Human Castiel, M/M, Self Confidence Issues, Slow Dancing, Summer Camp, Suspense, Twins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-20
Updated: 2016-12-20
Packaged: 2018-09-10 14:15:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8920306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Girlwithgoggles/pseuds/Girlwithgoggles
Summary: Dean waited for the last kid to run out the tent flaps before huffing, "I swear to God, the day before the show is the worst! They're all jumpy and excited, it makes them irresponsible and annoying… Little demons…" Castiel offered a hand and pulled Dean up off the dusty mat.





	

The sun was hot over head and the tent was like a sauna. Dean wiped the sweat from his brow as he helped the little bratty blonde girl climb onto the top of a pyramid of her friends. He wasn't even aloud to be shirtless while the campers where around; bullshit modesty rules.

"Good job, now just keep your upper body straight and your feet in their lower back so you don't hurt them," Dean kept his hands on the girl's waist until she stopped wobbling and then slowly let go. 

The group let out a cheer and some of the stronger kids at the bottom fooled around and lifted their hands off the mats to test the weight, giggling madly. Dean rolled his eyes and stepped forward, "Okay, you're gonna dismount now, take my hands." 

Dean held out his hands and the little girl at the top gave him an annoyed stare, before taking them. 

"And hup!" with the single command, the girl jumped. 

However, she jumped far to excitedly and Dean had to stretch his arms out so that he didn't let her go in mid air. She came down with a sharp kick and a squeal and Dean choked on his next breath; she had kicked him in the crotch as she landed. 

Dean's eyes watered and as soon as she was on the ground properly, he staggered backwards. His hands fell onto his knees and he hunched over, breathing heavily. 

The pyramid came apart in a pile of giggling and flailing girls and boys and the girl that had kicked him ran behind the mess to hide from Dean. Dean bit his lip hard, to try and stop himself from swearing in front of the campers; that's when his angel stepped in.

"Lunch!" Castiel called from where he had reentered the small tent from the larger one. 

The large tent housed the trapeze, ladder and hoop and the smaller tent had silks, rope, hammock and acrobatics, where Dean was currently gaining his breath back. The grounds around the tents were designated for the juggling, stilts, trampoline and diabolo.

The small group of kids Dean had been working with scampered off to find their backpacks from the hooks that were hung from ropes around the tents perimeter. Castiel glanced over, spotted Dean doubled over on the mats and ventured over to his boyfriend.

"Dean, what are you doing?" Castiel sounded bemused as he crouched down next to him. 

Dean waited for the last kid to run out the tent flaps before huffing, "I swear to God, the day before the show is the worst! They're all jumpy and excited, it makes them irresponsible and annoying… Little demons…" Castiel offered a hand and pulled Dean up off the dusty mat.

"Did you get kicked in the crotch again, Dean?" There was a knowing little smile turning up the corners of Castiel's lips and Dean glared in response.

"Yes. Yes I did! But that's the point, you shouldn't know that! That shouldn't be a normal occurrence in my life Cas!" Dean gestured wildly.

Castiel rolled his eyes and pulled Dean in by the hand. He planted a small peck on his cheek and whispered, "Maybe you could work with the children at head level. Charlie has been kicked five times in the last two hours."

Dean grimaced.

He pulled Castiel closer to him, so his arms were wrapped around Castiel's waist and Castiel's arms were laying over Dean's shoulders. He gave his boyfriends a lazy kiss on the lips and rested they're foreheads together, smiling softly. He and Castiel had started going out on tentative dates a week after their first make out session in the tent. That had been the first run of camp this summer. After two more camp groups had cycled through, they were onto their fourth and final group of the summer. 

"Maybe not," another kiss, "I guess I'll stay with the kids at crotch level," the next kiss was quick and sweet and around a chuckle, "but I might not be able to have our scientifically impossible children one day, aren't you worried?" Dean teased, kissing at Castiel's jaw.

"Dean," Castiel tried to hide his smile by turning his face away, but Dean could hear it in his voice.

Dean let him go with a final peck to the lips and turned so he was walking backwards out of the tent, "Fine, no mutant babies…"

Castiel just shook his head and followed Dean out of the tent and into the field where the campers were already eating their lunches.

 

\- - -

 

"Okay everyone, we've worked hard over the past two weeks to be at the top of our game for tonight! Now everyone knows what they're doing, where they're supposed to be and what they're queues are. If you fall, you get back up and you smile like you did it on purpose! You are going to go out their and give the best damn performances of your lives… Got it?" 

The shouts and claps from the campers echoed slightly in the large tent, and Dean, who had just finished his 'before show pep talk' yelled a battle cry as the kids jumped up and swarmed him.

"He's always so dramatic with those speeches…" Charlie took a swig of water from her bottle as they watched Dean disappear into the tide of children as they all simultaneously had the same idea of dog piling him.

"He stayed up till three writing that, he might just be a bit sleep deprived" Sam accepted the bottle from Charlie when she offered it.

"It was very… Peppy…" Castiel struggled with his words as Sam and Charlie laughed.

Once they could actually see Dean's head and shoulders again they moved to collect the mats into storage for the few hours they would be gone for dinner.

 

\----

 

When they arrived at the tents again three hours later it had cooled down with the breeze that came in off the lake that the tents were beside. When they started the prep for the show, it had cooled down enough that Dean didn't even break a sweat unloading and assembling all the equipment. They sat on a pick-nick tables under two large trees and drank from the water cooler they had set up for the performers.

The kids would be arriving on the buses in less than an hour and then they would be getting ready for the show as their families trickled into the largest tent to watch the performance. 

"It's been a good summer," Charlie sighed. She dug her heals into the ground, back and forth, until there were two tracks.

"Yeah, it has, hasn't it…" Dean smiled, his elbows resting on his knees, head in his hands. He looked over at Castiel with a fond expression in his eyes and Castiel flushed under his gaze, looking away.

"Ugh, get a room you two!" Sam wrinkled his nose, but he still smiled at his brother anyways.

Charlie huffed a laugh and stood up from the bench as the sound of excited yelling reached their ears. Sure enough, two school buses turned into the parking-lot of the circus camp with screaming, excited children practically hanging out the windows.

Charlie smiled and waved back, but Sam jumped up and ran to the now still buses to tell the kids to sit down. Dean smiled at his brother and his best friend as they both yelled and waved at the children.

Dean turned to Castiel with the same smile and quirked an eyebrow, "Ready?"

Castiel smiled lightly and gave a short nod. Then he turned and walked forward to meet with the children who poured from the buses to meet their councillors. 

 

\- - - 

 

It was dark. The fairy lights they had strung around the larger tent lit up the interior, but outside of that it was hard to make your way to and from the smaller. At this point, any makeup and last minute work the campers were doing, were by the light of some paper lanterns that Sam and Dean had set up in the smaller tent. Each cycle of camp had a different theme they picked for the final show. This year the campers had chosen lights and magic. There were small garden lights set up from the parking lot to the performance tent, and in the trees were christmas lights, twinkling in the dark. It was all very beautiful, Dean had to admit. The kids had dressed up in anything they had that was sparkly. The girl that had kicked Dean in the crotch ran past with a box of cookies to share with her friends, wearing a pair of sparkly pink Uggs; Dean wrinkled his nose at them. 

There were other kids putting makeup on each other at a small mirror with one of the councillors in training, Krissy. Beside them, the schedule for the performances was written out on a chalk bored in glow in the dark paint, a detail Charlie had come up with.

Stilts- Sam  
Juggling/ Mat Acrobatics- Dean   
Silks/ Hammock- Castiel  
Devil sticks/Diablo- Charlie and Dean  
Flying trapeze/Tightrope- Castiel and Charlie

Dean went over the schedule a couple times in his head before his eyes slipped away and he was distracted by other activity in the tent. On the far side of the tent, two of the oldest campers were entertaining the younger campers with their juggling tricks. They intertwined their arms and juggled three balls between the two of them, then switched to juggling three each and passed the balls between each other. Sam had dug into his own pockets to pay for some balls that lit up and flashed, and Dean watched, eyes unfocused, as the balls flew and jumped through the air between the two girls. It was quite magical and Dean calm felt as his muscles relaxed. His nervous for the performance floated to the back of his mind as the quiet murmur of parents in the adjacent tent and the lights from the juggling balls flew back and forth like fairies; jumping and dancing around in the cool, dark, night.

"Dean?" 

Dean shook himself out of his trance at Sam's voice, he turned to his brother. Behind Sam was a group of six boys and girls, all, if it was possible, were taller than Sam. The sequinned clothes covered the wooden stilts they had attached to their shoes and they were slowly stepping backwards and forwards to keep their balance while they waited. Two of the boys held flashlights with red and blue gel filters attached in front of the lights and were flicking them on and off at each other, creating a mini disco ball affect off their shimmering costumes.

"Parents are all here and waiting and I'm ready with my group, if you wanted to get your group ready and tell everyone we're starting."

Dean nodded,"right, okay, I'll go do that."

Sam nodded, giving Dean one last look before walking to the front flaps of the tent, followed by his six tall kids. The two boys that had the flashlights, sobered and quickly waddled to get to the front of the line. 

Dean walked to the middle of the tent and called for everyone to listen up, "Alright, Sammy's just taking the stilts out now, so I need my Jugglers and Acro over at the front of the tent with me. Everyone else, needs to quiet down and get ready in your groups!"

Immediately the kids in the tent silenced. As their tent quieted, they heard the excited murmurs and clapping that ran through the crowd of parents as the stilts walked out and into the large tent. Dean heard Sam giving his welcoming speech to the parents, explaining what their children had done over the two weeks at the camp. As soon as Sam finished and started playing some stupid, hippy, mood music, Dean saw flashes lighting up as parents started taking pictures of their kids.

Dean's groups were standing around him in their sparkly clothing, waiting. The two older girls that had been juggling for the younger kids were standing side by side, playing nervously with a few juggling pins they were using for their act. Dean glanced around, counting the kids, making sure all his Acro kids were accounted for. Dean paused as he realized the girl that had kicked him wasn't there. Dean groaned and looked around the tent; where was that little- She was crouching by one of Charlie's Devil stickers, who looked like he was going to be sick. She was trying to rub his back and Dean felt bad about being angry at her but Sam was calling out his stilt walkers names and his act was ending.

"Hey," to be fair, so many kids rotated through the camp each summer, Dean couldn’t be expected to remember all their names, "Princes! We're on next!" 

That seemed to work and she ran over frowning at him,"Ben isn't feeling too good, I don't know what's wrong, my cookies are excellent!"

Dean nodded, "Hmm, I'm sure, but listen…" He trailed off, wondering if he could guess her name and get it right; there really were so many children at this damn camp.

The little girl glared and Dean was surprised at how terrifying one little girl with Sparkly Uggs could look, "Lilith." The girl stated with an annoyed huff.

"Sorry, Lilith, we're about to go on! Ben has another two performances to sit through, he's probably just nervous. He'll calm down by the time his act is up, don't worry"

Lilith glared at Ben and mumbled something about him not liking her cookies and how that was stupid. Dean regretted ever feeling bad about not knowing her name. Little devil child.

After a few more minutes of waiting, Sam came back out of the large tent, followed by his kids. They were all laughing and high-fiving, still running off the adrenaline of the performance. Sam came through the flaps and held them open as the kids on their stilts walked through; they walked to the back of the tent where a large stack of mats were set up for them to sit on.

Sam turned and smiled at Dean, and although Dean couldn't hear his brother properly, he saw Sam mouthing good luck over the heads of the excited kids of Deans group. Dean nodded and headed out and across the field to the large tent. 

It was brighter in this tent than it was in the smaller one, hotter too. The combined body heat of all the people inside the tent made it a bit humid, despite the size of the area. The fairy lights twinkled as Dean took the mic from it's stand by the door where Sam left it. Every session made it easier for him to talk in front of the crowds, and by the last performance of the summer, his voice didn't shake anymore.

"Ladies and Gentleman, may I present to you, The Juggling Firebugs and The Soul Acro group!" On monday, Dean had gotten the kids in his groups to come up with cool names to introduce everyone. Dean grinned widely at the parents around him before putting the mic back on the stand and running into the arena with his group following behind him. When they got to the centre, the group split. The jugglers arrange themselves, six kids spread out into the shape of a rectangle at each edge of the arena. In the middle of the rectangle, the Acro kids had pulled two mats out and were arranging themselves into their first shape, the pyramid. 

A girl on the second level of the pyramid slipped a bit as she got into her position and Dean jerked forward and steadied her. She looked up nervously at him and Dean smiled reassuringly, "Breath, take it slow."

The girl nodded and repositioned herself so she wasn't digging her palms into the boys and girls shoulders below her. Dean glanced around at the jugglers who seemed to be doing fine entertaining the crowd as the pyramid was formed. Once they were all up into a sturdy triangle the jugglers around the edges of the circle knelt down on one knee and the lights focused on the pyramid. 

The crowd Ooed and Ahhed, flashes going off as Lilith waved and smiled brightly at the her audience, stupid Uggs sparkling in the spot light. Once the clapping had died down, the jugglers popped back up and rotated so that the crowd got to see each kids significant tricks. Dean helped Lilith jump down off the pile, and this time, thankfully was fortunate enough to step out of the way before anymore damage could come to his nether-regions. They reassembled for their next trick and the cycle continued four more times with all their tricks. 

 

\- - -

 

Dean jogged out of the tent, followed by his group, all waving around at their parents and friends that had come for the performance. Dean threw the flaps of the smaller tent open, running through, and almost knocked Castiel over as he tried to run out of the tent.

Dean stumbled back a bit, "Wow Cas, where's the fire?" Dean noticed the four little girls standing behind Castiel. Well, not as much standing as they were hopping up and down, holding their stomaches. Oh no.

"These four need to use the bathroom immediately, please get Sam and Charlie to cover the Silks and Hammock while I'm gone!" And then he was off at a fast walk, followed by the four girls, all waddling after Castiel. Dean laughed, imagining Castiel as a mother duck with her ducklings, then he hurried into the tent to get Sam and Charlie to bring out Castiel's group. They were up next.

 

\- - -

 

Dean sat, humming classic rock under his breath as he waited for Charlie and Sam to return so he could go on with Charlie for the Devil Sticks and Diablo. The kids from the acts that had already gone on were lazing around and chatting with friends. The two older campers, the juggling twins, Dean decided to call them, were throwing different objects from around the tent back and forth. Dean smiled slightly at them and looked up as Charlie came through the flaps. 

"How was it," Dean asked, but before she could answer, Ben wobbled over on shaky legs with Lilith skipping behind him. Dean and Charlie looked down nervously at Ben, "Hey are you okay?" Sam joined them and his face fell immediately. 

Lilith giggled a bit and it sent an unpleasant shiver down Dean's back, "Funny story, Benny here is allergic to peanuts! Who knew?" The kids in the immediate area, who heard Lilith, looked at each other nervously. The Juggling twins stopped juggling and glanced over to where Ben was huffing out short, pained, breaths.

Sam, Dean and Charlie's faces paled simultaneously as they stared at the cookie box in Lilith's arms. Ben's eyes went wide and he ran from the tent, over to the large tree where the coolers were and promptly threw up. Dean quickly jumped into action.

"Charlie, you fine Ben's parents and bring them back here. Ben do you have an Epi-Pen?" Ben nodded and coughed up more filth, his cheeks were getting puffy and red. Dean felt panicked but he rubbed at Ben's back soothingly.

Seconds later Charlie returned with a pretty brunette.

"Oh baby, sweety, are you okay? We're gonna get you to the emergency room right away honey, c’mon now!!" She looked up, desperation and fear in her eyes, "I walked! Can you please..." Sam and Charlie came forward and escorted Ben and his mother over to Dean's car.

"We'll take you there," Sam said, quickly turning and yelling back to Dean, "Keys?!" Dean tossed his keys and didn't even mention about not getting throw up in his car, he felt awful. 

He had seen Lilith run by with cookies earlier. He knew the campers weren't supposed to share food, especially home made food. But he had just had it in his head that since it was the last day, since everyone was excited, it would be fine to lax on the rules a bit. Now a kid was really sick and it was all his fault. Dean cursed himself to hell and back before turning back to the other campers. 

He had to keep the show going, or the audience would know something was up. He ran back to the small tent, where the Devil sticks and Diablo kids were looking out nervously, and escorted them to the bigger tent. When he got there, he assumed he would find a tent of bored parents, but when he stepped in they were all clapping and he couldn't believe he hadn't heard them earlier.

The Juggling Twins had taken a little kid from the audience and were now juggling around her head as she screamed and clapped in amazement. One of the girls, glanced over and saw Dean standing at the entrance, jaw hanging open and she turned back and called to her friend, who caught the last two balls as they were thrown and then took a bow. The crowd clapped and The Twins ran back towards where Dean was standing, when they were in reach, Dean grabbed both their shoulders and pulled them into a brief hug.

"You're awesome," Dean said and the girls smiled.

"We know," then they sobered, "We just hope that kids alright!"

Dean nodded and gave their shoulders a quick squeeze before turning and bringing the kids lined up behind him into the tent. The kids already seemed to know what to do, and instantly jumped into their routines. At the end of the act the parents clapped and Dean made sure the kids took a long time bowing before running off to check his phone. There was one text.

Sammy: Ben's alright, back as quick as we can

Dean let out a sigh of relief and leaned up against a tree. Krissy jogged over quickly from the other tent as his the last act filed back into the small tent.

"Hey Dean, Flying trapeze and Tightrope are up next and that's Castiel and Charlie's act! They aren't back yet and we need two people to do spotting!"

Dean's heart stuttered but then he nodded. He wouldn't have to do any tricks, just standing on the ground and spot the kids. He could handle that. The last group of kids seemed to materialize out of nowhere and they all looked ready to go. Dean nodded more firmly this time and stepped up beside Krissy.

"Let's get this over with." Dean stepped into the tent to more applause and the flashes of cameras as Dean announced the last act of the night.

 

\- - - 

 

It was all going well, very well actually. Dean got kids into the harnesses and pulled on the ropes as they jumped to the trapeze bar. He swung them back and forth, the rope between the kids crossed feet to get them into a steady swing. Once the kid was ready, they untangled they're leg and started the tricks they had learned. 

Behind him, Krissy made sure the tightrope kids were in harnesses before attaching one kid to the ropes that would catch them if they fell and letting them climb the tall ladder. It was safe, of course. If they fell, the rope would catch them; even if Krissy couldn't hold their weight, or the rope got out of her hands, Dean had invested in fancy rock climbing gear, and it would tighten and hold with any sudden weight added to it. 

Dean smiled and let out a little laugh. It was sort of therapeutic, watching the kids flying around up there. Dean tightened his grip on the rope and his heart skipped a beat, time for dismount. The boy Dean was currently spotting sat back on the bar after finishing Birds Nest and then flipped backwards, letting his legs go over his head. Dean slowly let the rope down until the boy's feet were firmly on the ground, then he let go of the rope to go and help the boy out of his harness. 

The crowd whooped as he landed and the boy gave a quick bow, smiling brightly at his parents, who were no doubt at the front of the crowd, waving and taking pictures. Dean hummed along to the crummy music Sam had put on. Dean was pretty sure it was on a loop, and it was going to be stuck in his head for days after, but it was atmospheric and appropriate to the theme. 

There was one cute moment during the performance when one of the campers, Alicia’s little brother tried to run up and join her while she was getting ready to jump up. Alicia had to take her brother back to his seat before she could go on and he was fussy about it. Dean had chuckled and the whole crowd awed as the little boy pouted by his mother’s side. 

Another kid went up and came back down. Dean checked on Krissy and made sure she was doing alright. Another kid went up and there was a slight fumble for the bar that made Dean's stomach flip over itself, but they corrected themselves and continued. The kid came down and another went up. Over and over until all ten kids had shown off their moves.

Dean sighed with relief as the trapeze and tightrope kids lined up to have a final bow. Dean smiled and mouthed to Krissy to take the kids out to the other tent. She nodded, turned and filed out with the group following behind her. Dean grinned widely for the audience, but really he was just tired, he wanted to go to bed, preferably with Castiel. 

Suddenly Dean was reminded of the fact that Castiel was probably just walking back. Their tents were set up beside the boardwalk, and although there were a few porta-potties placed close to their camp, they were always locked at night, and were filthy and smelled horrible. 

Castiel must have had to take them to the pool bathrooms. It was a good ways down the road, but if they ran they could get there and back in a little under half an hour. With their luck tonight however, and the fact that Castiel had to drag four excited and slow walking little girls back and forth, it was probably going to take more like an hour to get there and back. Dean hoped to hell that Castiel taken a car.

Dean sighed and grabbed the mic off the stand before returning to talk to the crowd. It had already started to thin; looked like some parents had left after their kids acts. Dean was relieved the crowd was smaller; he never did like talking in front of crowds, even if he’d gotten used to it. 

"And that concludes the performance for tonight. It has been a pleasure to instruct your talented kids and we'd love to see them again next year-" but he was cut off by a scream that made his blood run cold. 

He jumped when a women came running from the audience and towards the ladder that lead up to the tightrope. Dean's tilted his head back and looked up at the rope. Dean's heart instantly sank down into his stomach and he froze in fear as he registered the sight of Alicia's little brother hanging from the rope, holding on with his arms and legs and crying out for help. 

Dean unfroze a moment later and ran forward towards the mother who looked like she was about to trying to climb the ladder herself. 

"Woah woah, you can't go up there, stand back, I'll get him." The women was in tears and the crowd was shouting to her son, to hold on. The crowd was quickly filing out of the tent, probably not wanting to see what might happen. Dean turned back and grabbed the one harness that was still attached to the rope. He put his arm through the leg strap and stepped up to the ladder. Putting his foot on the first rung, he took a deep breath and let it out shakily. Dean felt as his palms became sweaty. Uh-oh. 

As he made his way up the thin ladder to the tiny platform at the top, he remembered training when he took over the camp. Being up in the air, the pull of gravity seemed much stronger, knowing there was only a mat between you and the hard ground. He shivered and almost lost his footing on the next rung. He held onto the ladder for dear life, feeling his head getting hot. He should have gotten Krissy, he should have kept a better eye on the ladder, he should have taken the kids to the bathroom instead of Cas. So many 'should haves' floated through his head as he continued his climb. 

After what felt like forever, he reached the tiny platform and knelt with his back against the pole. He refused to look down as his shaking hands tied the harness to the pole so he could use both his hands. The harness would only hold one person's weight, so he had to get the kid back to the plat form so he could lower him down. 

"Hey buddy," Dean's voice sounded terrified. The boys eyes were screwed shut tight and he whimpered as he held on tighter.

"I just wanted to do a twick like my sista!" The boy cried and Dean twitched as the boy shook on the rope. No, no no! 

"Listen, hey buddy, what's your name," Dean put as much strength as he could muster into his voice. He couldn't sound scared now, not now. 

After a second, the boy whimpered out, "Max." 

"Max? Okay, hey Max, you gotta crawl your way back over to me, okay Max, can you do that?"

Max shook his head, "I'm scared! I don't want to die!"

Dean's heart was beating out of his chest, "No one is dying Max, you hear me? Now just inch your way back over to me and you'll be back with your mom in no time." 

"Max baby! Listen to him please! You'll be fine sweaty," Max’s mom called up from the floor below and Dean chanced a glance down. 

His stomach flipped and he felt his heart making a valiant effort to crawl it's way up and out of his throat. 

"Okay Max, hurry over here buddy."

There were a couple seconds of horrible silence when all he could hear was Sam's stupid music. It had been atmospheric while the kids were preforming, but now it was a terrifying soundtrack to a situation that could go wrong at any moment. Then, Max scooted forward on the rope an inch, and then another, and another and finally he was coming within reach of Dean.

Dean hooked his legs securely around the platform and reached down for Max, to pull him back up onto the platform with him. As soon as Dean could touch him, he hooked his arms tightly around Max’s waist and pulled him onto the platform with a small grunt. He scooted backwards until his back was firmly pressed against the pole and Max rapped his arms around his neck, almost choking him.

"Okay Max, I'm going to put you into this harness and then you're going to climb down the ladder. Alright?" 

Max’s whole body shook with fear but Dean felt the nod of his head against his neck. Dean let out a long, shaky sigh. 

This night had just gone down hill so fast. First that stupid Lilith and her cookies, then Max. And all this had been Deans fault. His stomach twisted with guilt. If he had just enforced the rules, or watched the equipment. Dean was terrible with kids, the cops would probably through him in jail for this. Dean had wanted kids of his own one day. That thought popped out of nowhere and gave Dean pause. He did want kids, more than anything. At the moment however, he really just wanted Cas back. Dean slowly took away one arm to untie the harness from the pole and then brought it up and around Max’s back. He secured it tightly before patting the little boy on the back, "Okay Max, I'm going to lead you to the edge of the ladder and get your feet on the first step. You're totally safe, I promise, if you fall, the harness will stop you from going anywhere, got it?"

Max nodded and Dean slowly made his way to the side, were the top of the ladder met with the platform. Dean got Max securely onto the ladders rungs and then slowly let go of his shoulders; he would wait for Max to get close to the bottom before making his own way down, just so he doesn’t scare or rush Max on his decent. 

As soon as Max got close to the bottom, Dean turned and made his way down too. He hadn't checked to see if Max’s mother was still right at the bottom of the ladder, but she was probably waiting for her son there. 

When Dean's feet met solid ground, his knees instantly buckled and he slumped at the base of the ladder, breathing heavily. Max’s mother was crying and thanking Dean repeatedly as Max cried against her side and apologized for climbing up in the first place. 

"No problem," Dean stuttered out and was about to try and test his legs, when strong arms rapped around him, pulling him into a tight hug. 

A gravely voice, made deeper with worry, spoke in Dean's ear and Dean wanted to melt into the owner of it, "Dean, are you alright?"

Dean returned Castiel's hug, squeezing him tight, grounding himself in Cas' reassuring presence. He breathed deeply, taking in the sent of grass, chalk dust, and something purely Cas, safe and familiar.

"You missed all the fun," Dean said in a dry tone, pulling back from the hug as his heart rate returned to normal. Castiel crushed Dean’s mouth with a firm kiss as a last reassurance. He stood- with Castiel's help- and was instantly in another embrace as Max, Alicia and their mother all came at him with more 'thank you's'.

"I'm so sorry," Dean stated quietly to Max’s mother, "I promise, this doesn't ever happen, I'm truly sorry for not keeping better attention to what was going on with the equipment.”

Max’s mother gave out a strangled laugh that sounded more like a sob, "It's not your fault, it's mine, I should have been paying more attention to Max."

Dean shook his head and pulled her back for one last hug before letting her go, "It's not your fault, trust me." 

She shook her head but didn't reply, instead she pulled Max close again, "Well we won't be reporting this or anything, my daughter Alicia really enjoys the camp, I'm sure she will be back here next year. I'll make sure this doesn't hurt your reputation."

Dean took in a little breath of air, he hadn't even thought of that. After this night, he wouldn't be surprised if they had to close the camp. He let the breath out slowly and nodded his thanks. The small family turned then and made their way towards the flaps out into the night. 

"I'm so proud of you." Dean turned a questioning eye on Castiel who had a small smile on his face, Castiel stepped closer and rapped his arms around Dean again, he pressed a soft chaste kiss to Dean's lips and Dean frowned. 

"For what? Leaving the ladder unguarded, almost letting that kid fall? Oh yeah, and you weren't here when I let some kid get sick from some stupid peanut cookies. I totally screwed up Cas. I'm a screw up,” Dean's head bent down and away from Castiel's intense stair, looking to the matted floor. 

"Dean,” Castiel said quietly, Dean didn't look up. "Dean, Ben is fine, Sam texted me from the emergency room. You took control of a bad situation and fixed it before something worse could happen. Same with the boy who climbed up there," Castiel gestured towards the ladder behind Dean. "It was not your fault that he ate those cookies, Lilith should know better than to bring in anything with nuts, and that boy was being foolish, it was his own fault he got stuck up there, not yours."

Dean looked just past Castiel's head, not wanting to meet his eyes, "Cas…" he said slowly, wanting to protest, to tell Castiel that all this was his fault. Castiel cut him off, bring a hand up to cup Dean’s face, forcing Dean to look at him.

"If you hadn't been there both times, I'm not sure if those kids would be alright now. You saved their lives Dean. Despite your fear of heights, you climbed up there and saved that boys life. That's why I'm proud of you."

Dean looked into Castiel's eyes, and all he saw was his sincerity, and trust and- and something that made Dean's heart skip a beat. Then Dean was kissing Castiel hard and sloppily and he closed his eyes against Castiel's stare, blinking back tears. Castiel's arms ran down from Dean's shoulders to his hips and he let them rest there, Dean's hands came up and ran through Castiel's dark locks, lightly scratching his nails over Castiel's scalp. 

Castiel broke the kiss with quick panting breaths, "Dean… lets pack up everything… so we can get out of here."

Dean nodded, looking around at the lights, the equipment and mats, rope and chairs they still had to put away into the storage chambers for the rest of the summer. The tents would be taken down by a moving company, but they still had so much work to do tonight. 

Dean let out a sigh and pulled Castiel back in for one last, sweet kiss. Which lasted longer then it was meant to and when they both pulled away, they were panting and Dean was giving Castiel a sly grin. Castiel rolled his eyes and turned to the back table to shut off the music.

Dean walked into the second tent to find a couple stragglers hanging around. As soon as Dean came in, the kids turned from their parents and ran over.

"Dean! We wanted to make sure you were okay. Our parents wouldn't let us in there." It was the Juggling Twins, Dean wished he had tried harder to remember the kids names.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just glad that kid was alright." Dean gave a tired smile and the twins nodded, one of them laughed quietly.

"When Cas got back and found out, he almost ran a child over trying to get to you!" Dean's heart swelled at that and his face flushed a bit at the identical looks the twins were giving him.

"You guys are cute together, by the way," and then they turned with simultaneous waves of farewell. Dean's blush grew as he watched the two girls walking away together, and then turned back to the other's who wanted a goodbye as well. 

Dean felt like he could sleep for days as the last few kids left with their parents. He stood in the empty tent for a while, just looking around. The fairy lights around the sides of the tent were even brighter in the dark, empty space. The lanterns, sitting forgotten by the kids, were still bright although some had gone out. Dean let out a shaky sigh and rubbed at his arms as a cool breeze ghosted over his skin, causing goose bumps to rise. He'd talk to Cas someday about kids, when he worked up enough courage. The thought put a smile on his face. 

"I thought you were cleaning up?" Castiel's voice was a whisper by his ear and Dean jumped slightly. Castiel was holding all the harnesses and cables in one arm, and the stereo in the other. Dean turned and took the equipment from Castiel's hands, placing them gently on the padded ground. He fiddled with the stereo and pressed a couple buttons, until Sam's music started floating out the speakers again. Then he turned back and held out a hand to Castiel. 

Castiel cocked an eyebrow, but took Dean’s offered hand. Dean pulling him in and settled his other hand on the small of Castiel's back. Castiel huffed in amusement, but rested his other hand on Dean's shoulder.

"Really Dean?" Castiel let himself be guided into the centre of the tent and Dean led him into a swaying step, "This is, I think, what you would call a 'Chick Flick Moment'."

"Shut up," Dean replied and Castiel didn't argue, he let his head rest in the crook of Dean's neck and Dean could feel Castiel's smile against his skin. 

Dean wasn’t sure if he could say it out loud yet, but he nuzzled his head into Castiel’s hair and mouthed three words into the soft curls. Castiel’s grip on Dean’s hand tightened and the words were repeated into Deans neck. Dean closed his eyes. 

 

\- - -

 

Half an hour later, they were interrupted from their swaying by the arrival of Sam and Charlie, who ruined the moment by singing barcarole-esque songs at the top of their lungs.

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah I actually continued it... Thank procrastination for this... :) I hope you enjoyed the suspense, the fluffy fluff-fluff and the weird time jumps! 
> 
> (Btw the Juggling Twins were me and my friend when we went to camp, I think I deserved a lil self insert ;)


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